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Theropod Tooth Identification


Joseph Kapler

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Any thoughts on taxonomy of this tooth? It was collected from a horizon in the Hell Creek Formation, Powder River County, Montana that was said to contain Nanotyrannus remains.

NLA1.jpg

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Beautiful tooth

I'm going to go against convention here and say it's a Trex tooth.   Yes, it has the lingual and labial depressions, but the base is not rectangular.   In addition, other characteristics favor Trex including a contiguous carina wrapping around the tip as one instead of two distinct carinae as in Nanotyrannus.  In addition, the CBR (Crown Base Ratio) of 1.64 is more typical of Trex than Nanotyrannus.   Trex teeth the mean is typically under 2 (Smith 2005). My study on Nanotyrannus showed a mean over 2.   

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10 hours ago, Troodon said:

In addition, other characteristics favor Trex including a contiguous carina wrapping around the tip as one instead of two distinct carinae as in Nanotyrannus.

I believe I've asked this before, but isn't a contiguous carina typical in unworn Tyrannosaurs - including Nano? I have a Tyrannosaur that's clearly of the Nano-morph but has serrations crossing the apex. 

 

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Edited by ThePhysicist
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"Argumentation cannot suffice for the discovery of new work, since the subtlety of Nature is greater many times than the subtlety of argument." - Carl Sagan

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." - Richard Feynman

 

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Nothing is published on Nanotyrannus so hard to adequately address that characteristics.  My observation is based on the teeth in my collection that there are two distinct carina and the tips are pointed not blunt.  A smooth contiguous carinae is typical of Trex teeth.   It would not change my ID of the tooth in question.

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